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Hundreds of people and some 1,000 wreaths packed the front porch of City Hall and its surrounding area on Wednesday to thank Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama and his deputy Djarot Saiful Hidayat for their leadership.

The visitors, which come from Jakarta and its neighboring areas, had been gradually coming to City Hall since early morning.

"I have been queueing here since 6.30 a.m. just to take pictures. I didn't expect that there would be this many [the visitors]," Fatimah, 39, a resident of Cipinang, East Jakarta, told tribunnews on Wednesday.

The visitors crowded Ahok when he arrived at the City Hall.

Ahok was defeated by his contender Anies Baswedan in the April 9 election runoff.

City Hall was also packed with hundreds of wreaths sent by residents as expressions of their gratitude.

“We are still counting the number of the wreaths we have received. There are about 1,000 so far,” Jakarta Gubernatorial and Foreign Affairs bureau head Muhammad Mawardi said.

Wreaths started to fill up City Hall on Tuesday. They can be seen lining the building’s front porch, garden area and its sidewalks. (agn)